The Los Angeles Lakers have shuffled around their two-way contract spots a couple of times this season due to injuries.
The NBA changed the rules to allow teams to have three two-way contracts in the new CBA, so shortly after the 2023 NBA Draft, the Lakers brought in three undrafted free agents in Colin Castleton, D’Moi Hodge and Alex Fudge. Second-year player Cole Swider originally occupied one of those two-way slots but was let go in order to sign Fudge after Summer League.
With key rotation players getting hurt early in the season though and none of the rookies being ready for actual NBA minutes, the Lakers decided to part ways with Hodge and Fudge to sign some players with experience in Dylan Windler and Skylar Mays to two-way deals. The hope was that Windler and Mays would be able to contribute to the team if needed with so many guys out.
Recently though, Castleton went down with a wrist fracture so there was a need for a big man with Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt also dealing with their own respective injuries.
Because of that, the Lakers decided to part ways with Windler in order to bring in a center in Harry Giles III. It did not take long for Windler to find another home though as he is signing a two-way deal with the Atlanta Hawks, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
Free agent G/F Dylan Windler has agreed on a two-way deal with the Atlanta Hawks, Andy Shiffman and Mark Bartelstein of @PrioritySports tell ESPN. Windler has played with the Lakers and Knicks this season pic.twitter.com/t9qUaoSnOB
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 4, 2024
Windler did not get as many opportunities as expected with the Lakers as he averaged 1.5 points in 3.5 minutes across eight contests, mostly coming in garbage time.
The Hawks have been dealing with some key injuries themselves, so perhaps he will get more of an opportunity to finish out the season in Atlanta.
Meanwhile, Giles joined the Lakers on Monday and could get a chance to show what he can do at some point, especially as L.A. continues to struggle on the defensive glass.
Former Lakers two-way player Alex Fudge signs with Mavericks
Windler wasn’t the only former Lakers two-way player that landed with another team on Monday as Fudge signed a two-way deal with the Dallas Mavericks.
Fudge remained in the Lakers organization and played for their G League team after being waived a few months ago but now gets a better opportunity in Dallas, similar to Windler in Atlanta.
Monday is the final day on the 2023-24 regular season that players can sign two-way contracts, which is why there was this big wave of signings involving former Lakers players.
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